Wednesday, October 4, 2017

NL Wild Card Game Preview: Colorado Rockies @ Arizona Diamondbacks

Last night we watched as the Minnesota Twins and the New
York Yankees fought it out in a one-game, do-or-die playoff game in the
American League Wild Card Game and tonight it’s the National League’s turn to
take center stage as the Arizona Diamondbacks play host to the Colorado
Rockies. The winner travels to square off with the Los Angeles Dodgers while
the loser goes home for a winter full of golf, working out and wondering what
could have gone differently. In the start tonight the Diamondbacks will send
Zack Greinke to the mound to face off with Jon Gray for the Rockies. These two
teams have seen each other a bunch this season as both are members of the NL
West Division so this one should be a highly contested matchup. I look forward
to it.

Greinke was brought in as a free agent to start games like
this for the Diamondbacks, especially after the Cy Young type season the
right-hander had in 2017. Greinke heads into the start tonight with a career
3-3 record in the postseason along with a 3.55 ERA in nine postseason starts.
Youth and aggression in Gray or experience in Greinke, who wins out tonight in
the desert?

Gray has not allowed more than three runs in a start in any
of his last 13 starts and brings that streak with him into Chase Field tonight
in the postseason. During that span Gray has surrendered just 16 walks to his
80 strikeouts and will look to do more of the same tonight against a tough
offense, but an offense that struggled a bit down the stretch. Most notably NL
MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt.

The game will be played at 8:08 pm ET inside Chase Field
home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and can be seen on TBS. Follow us on Twitter
by following @GreedyStripes to interact with us during the game and to stay up
to date with us and the blog all throughout the 2017 MLB playoffs. Enjoy the
game!